Brazilian cement and concrete producer Votorantim Cimentos is plowing ahead with its multi-billion initial public offering this week. The offering will be the second-largest in the world this year, becoming a key test of investors’ perceptions of Brazil and the broader emerging markets.

“The (IPO) plan is on track. Of course, this time investors are more concerned, not so much about the company, but with the country’s economic conditions,” said a banker with knowledge of the deal, who declined to be named for this article. The person declined to discuss investor demand for the company’s shares so far.

Votorantim Cimentos, Brazil’s largest producer of heavy building materials such as cement and concrete, wants to raise up to 10.26 billion Brazilian reais ($4.8 billion), and the deal is expected to be priced on Wednesday. If it goes through, it will be the world’s second largest IPO this year, behind the 11.5 billion reais raised from another Brazilian deal, the spinoff of BB Seguridade SA, the pensions and insurance unit of Banco do Brasil SA, in April.

In its way is the rapid decline in enthusiasm for all things emerging markets, and Brazil in particular. The prospect of slightly slower growth in China, combined with the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin “tapering” its easy-money policies, has led many money managers to pull back from their exposure in emerging markets, mostly because they have to pay down the cheap dollar loans before rates start to go up.

At the same time, investors have become frustrated with Brazil. Economic growth has been muted over the last two years, and looks set to disappoint again this year, with latest forecasts pointing to sub-2.5% GDP expansion. Government policy has been roundly criticized, for too much intervention, either directly or indirectly, as well as mixed signals on interest rates, inflation, public spending and the currency. Last week, Standard & Poor’s changed its outlook on Brazil’s sovereign rating to negative, raising the possibility of a downgrade, after years of upward momentum.

Votorantim will be hoping that investors can distinguish between the immediate problems facing the broad economy, and the longer-term growth prospects for companies that manage to navigate these difficult times successfully.

“I think that they [companies] are doing a good job operating in a difficult environment, and there are very good opportunities for continued economic growth in Brazil,” said Geoffrey Pazzanese, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors, who oversees $636 million in equities with 9% of its assets in Brazilian stocks. Pazzanese bought shares in BB Seguridade, but said he won’t buy Votorantim’s shares, as he’s not interested in the cement industry. “I believe much of the investor pessimism for Brazil has to do with the government’s policies, which have attempted to engineer certain solutions rather than letting the free market work.”

Votorantim Cimentos — controlled by local billionaire family Ermirio de Moraes – plans to offer a total of 540 million units, including an overallotment, with each unit expected to price between BRL16 and BRL19.00. Each unit consists of one common share and two preferred shares. Investors can reserve shares in Votorantim until Tuesday. Trading is expected to begin on Thursday.

Of the total offer, around 70% will be new shares and 30% will be sold by the Moraes family through a secondary offering. The company did not reveal what the offering will represent as a percentage of the company’s total ownership.

Votorantim plans to use the proceeds to expand and add more products in Brazil, as well as for potential acquisitions of heavy building materials companies or assets outside Brazil. It already has operations in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere in Latin America.